The only way to conquer a fear is to face it head on.
Blurb:
When young Stedman graduates from college, he decides to spend the summer in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. He wants to take a well-deserved break from studying, he needs to face his dreaded fear of water, and he’s desperate to work on overcoming a sexual phobia he can’t explain to anyone. It’s such a ridiculous phobia he can’t stop thinking about it. In spite of many protests from his successful Afro-American father and his gorgeous Caucasian mother, he takes the cross country road trip to Carmel-by-the-Sea anyway. The first thing he does when he gets there is sign up for surfing lessons so he can work on his fear of water. And before he even knows what’s about to happen, thanks to the experienced hands of his big strong surfing instructor, he soon finds himself in the perfect situation to work on his sexual phobia as all.
Ebook ISBN: 978-1-60054-503-0
lyd Category: His and His Kisses
Length: 40 pdf Pages / 6400 words
Rating: 4
Formats Available: pdf, prc, lit, zipped html, lrf, epub, rb
Ebook Cover Price: $2.25
Excerpt:
Stedman desperately wanted to be like those smooth, easy bottom guys in the porno flicks. (What was their secret?) He wanted to smile and spread his legs wide like they did, so hot guys with big cocks would moan and pant while they slid their dicks in and out of his ass with no difficulty at all. But more than that, he wanted to know what it felt like to climax with a huge erection buried deeply in his body.
He wanted this just as much as he wanted to feel comfortable around water. His problem with water wasn’t quite as extreme as his problem with anal sex. He didn’t think about swimming all the time - if he never stepped foot in a body of water again, he could have lived a perfectly normal life. It’s just that when he looked out at the ocean in Maine, his breathing relaxed and he smiled; he felt a sense of connection and peace that he never felt anywhere else. When he crossed a large bridge and looked down below at a river flowing gently beneath him, his body went limp and he had to grip the steering wheel and force himself to pay attention to the road instead of the water. All he wanted to do was sit on a rock and watch the currents slip by; it was this love of water that made him want to conquer his fear.
When Stedman was seven years old, during his first swimming lesson, the instructor told him to jump off the diving board into nine feet of water. He stood on the edge of the board and jumped into the swimming pool without giving it a second thought. But when he hit the water and it occurred to him that he couldn’t actually touch the bottom of the pool, his heart began to race, his arms and legs flew in all directions, and he felt as if he was going to die. Though his heart was ready to jump out of his small chest, he held his breath and managed to rise to the surface. Then he swam to the edge of the pool without anyone knowing what had happened. And from that day on, he never went into a body of water again that was deeper than a bathtub.
But he was determined to overcome his fears. So after a detour in Vegas, Stedman drove straight through to Carmel-by-the-Sea. It took over eight hours, but when he finally reached the city limits, he forgot about how stiff his legs were. When he drove onto Mission Street for the first time, things seemed different there than back east; he leaned forward and pressed his fingertips to his bottom lip. He drove past a stone cottage with a steep roof that was surrounded by a colorful English garden. Not far from the cottage, he passed a mission-style structure with a terracotta roof that looked ancient. Each building, from private homes to retail establishments, seemed to take on a whimsical feeling - the colors were brighter and more vibrant than other places; people seemed to take creative chances with gardens and shrubbery. The sidewalks were stippled with casually dressed people walking dogs while signs outside the Inns and hotels read “Pets Welcome.” When he stopped at the end of a street, a woman walking three Scotties smiled and nodded at him as she crossed. He smiled back and took a deep breath - you could smell the ocean in the fresh, salty breeze. It seeped into the car and welcomed you to Carmel without warning.
Author Bio:
Ryan Field is a fiction writer who has worked in publishing for over fifteen years. He has worked as an assistant editor and editor for magazines and non-fiction publishers. And aside from his novels, his short stories have been published in anthologies and collections by Alyson Books, Cleis Press and Starbooks Press. His short story, "Down the Basement," is part of a collection of short stories in the Lambda Award winning book, BEST GAY EROTICA 2009. He blogs at www.ryan-field.blogspot.com
